A year ago...
A girl woke up from a tomb-like cave. The cave was dark but she could see somethings. She was lying on a stone that was shaped like a bed. The stone had inscriptions on it but she failed to notice it. The girl stood up from the stone and headed towards a tunnel. She could see light at the end of the tunnel. Immediately after stepping out of the cave, she looked back and saw that it was no longer there. Due to her distressed state, she had no reason to be curious. She had lost her parents when she was only 3 years old. She lived with her uncle and aunt for five years before her Uncle told her that he was taking her to a better place. He had sold her out. A man, Mr. Hank had taken her in and asked his wife to take care of her. He was a very busy man and was not usually home. His wife was not too good. She never fed her, always maltreated her and blamed her for her childlessness. She had been married to the man for 4 years before they took her in, but she still blamed her for her childlessness. She young girl only fed on leftovers and usually sneaks into the kitchen to get food from the fridge in the midnight. This went on for for another 8 years before the family was attacked. She thought she had died but woke up to find herself in a cave the next morning. Someone must have kept her safe there after realizing she was breathing.
The girl kept walking without a destination and halted when she saw a village. She was reluctant to go there. She was scared they would hurt her. With her foot rooted to the ground, unable to move forward or backwards, she just stayed there staring.
"Are you lost?" A voice came from behind her. She took a step backwards due to her survival instincts. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just want to help you." he said calmly "Are you lost?" he asked again and she nodded her head.
"What about your family?" When she didn't respond, he got the message. It was either she ran away from home or she'd lost her family.
"Come with me. I can take you to the place where I work. You can eat good food and have a place to stay." she just nodded her head. "By the way, my name is Nathaniel. But you can call me Nathan. Come on, let's go." she walked behind him with her eyes on the ground. Nathan worked in the Chief's house as a guard. The Chief might be very carefree but he made sure everyone was treated well.
On getting to the Chief's house, Nathan introduced the girl as someone he saw on his way and needed help. The Chief didn't spare them a glance and just nodded his head. Nathan led her to the helpers' chamber. The first few weeks there was like hell. It was worse than where she was coming from. Over there it was one person but here, it's a herd of girls. At the mansion where she used to live, she had a tiny storage room to herself where none of the maids made contact with her. They all looked at her with pity and some of them chuckled when she was being beaten.
At the chief's house, they all called her lazy and useless. She couldn't do any house chores because she had never.
Mrs. Hank never let her touch her stuff because she believed she carried bad luck with her. After bearing all the torture from her, she locked herself up in the small storage room and only came out in the midnight to take the leftovers in the kitchen.
It looked like the same thing was happening. The other maids never let her eat because they believed that a lazy man deserved no food. "We can't do the chores, cook food and then you just sit around and eat the food." They would say. They didn't even give her the chance to learn. She always sneak out of the room at night when they were all asleep to eat from the kitchen. After a month of daily beating, she went to the attic to stay. Forever. She hadn't spoken to anyone in the Chief's house since she had arrived. After spending six months in the attic, Nathan finally found her there. She started talking to him once in a while. He would come to her every weekend, spend 30 minutes to one hour and talk to her about somethings. He made her know that her wolf was not active. He told her a few things she needed and maybe didn't need to know. Even though he got minimum answers from her, he knew she was listening to him. This went on for the next few months. One day, while she was asleep, she opened her eyes and saw there was fire everywhere. People were fleeing in no particular direction. Her heart was beating wildly against her ribcage. She was very scared. She couldn't call for help. She didn't think anyone would be able to walk through the fire and save her. She sat on the floor with her knee against her chest. She knew she was going to die there so she didn't want to make it a lousy death. Two men walked into the room like they had been summoned. Although, the attic itself was not on fire, the ceiling above it showed signs of burning and smoke filled the room. She was glad that they had come to save her. But the smile on their lips said otherwise. It was like they had found a prey.
She heard a crack above her head and saw the wood where a ceramic pot was placed. The ceramic pot fell on her head. "Capture her." was the last thing she heard before she passed out.
"She's useless. She's already passed out. Let's just leave her to die."
"No, capture her."
But before any of them could touch her, a white wolf appeared at their front to protect the girl.
*Back to the present*
After getting rid of the two foolish rogues, Brody shifted into his human form and turned to the girl on the floor. He knelt in front of the girl who turned out to be his mate. His index finger touched her cheek. A wide grin appeared on his face. The spark was overwhelming. He wanted more. He gathered her in his arms and pulled her face to his chest. The spark was just great. She fit perfectly in his arms. He brought his face closer to her hair and sniffed in her scent.
"Mine."